Rafael Rodríguez

A Jewish Paul

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“The apostle Paul may need no introduction. Few people—perhaps only Jesus himself—are as widely known as the man from Tarsus. In fact, Paul may be too well known, and his robust reputation may prevent us from seeing him with historical or theological clarity. Matthew Thiessen offers students and scholars alike an invaluable resource: an accessible-yet-innovative introduction to a Jewish Paul, the herald of Israel’s Messiah to the non-Jewish nations.”

Empowering the People

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“For nearly four decades, Richard Horsley has sought to bring broader perspectives from the humanities and social sciences to the study of Jesus. Empowering the People continues this program by reframing Jesus’s healings and exorcisms within the struggles for power between Rome and its Judean collaborators on one hand, and on the other, ‘the people.’ For those of us interested in reinvigorating the study of the historical Jesus, there is much here to consider.”

Entering the Fray

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“The church and the academy, no less than the prodigal son and his older brother, have had a rocky history. Like the proverbial father, Halcomb is devoted to both and hopes to bring them together into a peaceable and even amicable relationship. Entering the Fray provides a sympathetic introduction to hot topics and prominent figures of New Testament scholarship for Christians who find themselves unsure what all the fuss is about.”

Exegeting Orality

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“What difference does it make if the Exodus story is read from a page or performed on a stage? Is reading a Gospel like attending a Passion Play? Are authors and scribes the same as performers? Are readers and audiences more alike than they are different? Nick Acker distills the insights of two generations of scholarship on such questions and explores their importance for Christians today who approach the Bible as the word of God. Read this book, then hear anew the old, old stories.”

Jesus and His Promised Second Coming

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“The New Testament and its early readers expected Jesus to return from heaven and attributed this expectation to Jesus himself. Historians of Jesus, however—even before the supposed eighteenth-century beginnings of Jesus historiography—are largely unable or unwilling to discuss this expectation as an aspect of Jesus’s self-understanding. Ferda charts an intrepid course through this tension that leads the way to understanding not just Christian origins and eschatology but also the man from Nazareth and his receptions. I needed to read this book.”

Reading Mark’s Gospel as a Text from Collective Memory

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“In Reading Mark’s Gospel as a Text from Collective Memory, Sandra Huebenthal turns her focus from Jesus as a figure from the past to the Gospel of Mark as a commemorative text, a product and example of collective memory. She recalibrates factors that are too often treated as mutually exclusive options (collective or individual, story or history, diachronic or synchronic, etc.) and situates Mark within the creative tension between these and other poles.”